Claiming enhanced rate mobility

Hi stevegill5257,
Many elderly people have mobility difficulties, simply through old age. If pensioners were therefore able to claim benefits for being unable to walk, this would be a huge amount of money. As a result, the rationale for Attendance Allowance which is only available to the elderly, is thst there u
is no mobility component. Likewise, claimants who can carry on claiming DLA or PIP instead will not be able to increase their mobility rate once they get to pension age.
As a result, whatever mobility rate you have on PIP (or DLA) when you get your state pension will be the rate you remain at. So if there is no mobility award applicable at that time you will never get this. Similarly, if you only have standard rate at this time, you will never get the enhanced rate. This is what appears correctly to have happened with you. Whilst it is correct that DWP still count points, (presumably to be certain you still qualify for PIP in the first place,) it is confusing to see points and then no award!
The only possibility to do anything about this is to put in an appeal. This will only apply if you have a review conducted at pension age time. The appeal (via initially Mandatory Reconsideration ie a letter asking DWP to revise) needs to made within 1 mth of this new decision. In exceptional circumstances where you can show good cause you can get an extension with an absolute end of 13mths.
(So an appeal would now be well out of time.)
In case other soon to be pensioners are reading this post I would urge them to check the mobility award they are currently receiving and consider whether this is correct going forward. It is worth considering asking DWP to revise their decision on grounds of (worsening) change of circumstances, but being mindful this can jeopardise an existing award, and will potentially require forms and assessment to be completed again!

What about LEAP cases?
At present I am not aware of any out of time appeal having reached the tribunal for a definitive ruling. DWP has allowed some late cases. There is a power of "anytime revision'" where official error has occurred. This has been a theme with some of the LEAP applications, but not necessarily out of time ones.
However, I think in your particular case there may be fundamental problems to making a successful claim via LEAP.

1. As your decision is very close to your pension age, I suspect that your health may not have been such to merit enhanced mobility at the time of pension receipt. It certainly may be difficult to prove, especially since it has taken 5 years for you to ask for a review.
2. If your health has only recently deteriorated then LEAP would not apply.
LEAP only applies to historic cases that were wrongly decided due to DWP not applying the correct law.
However, if you can show that your case should and could fall within the LEAP review you may have a chance to put in an anytime revision.
Sorry that I can not be more specific.
LL26

Hello Steve,

Have you at any time received a LEAP review letter. It basically says that they have looked again at your award and decided that you the changes in law do not affect your award?

Catherine